Organisations making urgent lay-offs must still comply with their consultation requirements, the Fair Work Commission has highlighted, in rejecting that an employer had no time to consult before making a role redundant.
Even if it's impossible for an employer to change a decision about planned redundancies, it must comply with its consultation obligations, a workplace lawyer says. Meanwhile, an enterprise bargaining specialist says it's never been more crucial for employers to have skilled negotiators at the table.
A people and culture team "singularly failed" to meet with an employee in a timely manner to discuss his redeployment opportunities, meaning his redundancy wasn't genuine, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
Employers are now firmly on notice that when they're considering a major workplace change, they need to assess the risk of psychosocial hazards potentially arising from it, a lawyer says.
The Federal Court has rejected both the "bland explanation" an employee received for his dismissal and his employer's later argument that he was underperforming, finding instead that he was sacked for exercising a workplace right.
A chief people officer irritated by a manager's redeployment negotiations made a "snap decision" to make his role redundant, in breach of his general protections, the Federal Court has found.
Despite accepting that a supervisor's suitability for redeployment was "unlikely", the Fair Work Commission has found an HR practitioner should have discussed available jobs before dismissing her on the basis of redundancy.
In a general protections case that identified 188 workplace complaints or enquiries, an employee failed to specify which "particular" prohibited reasons led to his termination, the Federal Circuit Court has found.
Costly legal disputes continue to highlight the many risks employers face when managing, disciplining, or dismissing employees while they are absent, injured or incapacitated. Attend this webinar for an up-to-date review of the legal framework applying to workplace absenteeism, injury and incapacity, and lessons from recent case law.
